WASHINGTON - Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport is one of three finalists selected by the Coast Guard to design new offshore patrol cutters, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday afternoon

As a finalist, the Louisiana company will receive $21.95 million to further develop the company's concept and design for the cutters, as sketched out in its initial proposal.

Besides Bollinger, the other finalists are Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. in Panama City, Fla. and General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works in Maine. The winning contractor will be awarded the $10.5 billion contract to design and build the vessels.

The Coast Guard plans to acquire 25 offshore patrol cutters.

"The new offshore patrol cutters will be the most technologically advanced ships in the Coast Guard's fleet," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who helped secure $123 million for the project between 2011 and 2014. "Our Lockport shipyard is uniquely equipped to develop and build this new fleet, but more importantly, winning this contract means that good-paying, high-skilled jobs will be created right here in Louisiana. This Phase I award will create 100 professional and engineering jobs for the next two years, with approximately 2,500 jobs on the line for the complete design and construction."

The selection as a finalist is a big win for Bollinger, which in 2011 was sued by the Coast Guard for delivering eight enlarged deep-water cutters that turned out to be "unseaworthy and unusable, according to the lawsuit. A federal judge last year threw out the suit on grounds the Coast Guard didn't prove Bollinger deliberately misled the Coast Guard about the project. The Justice Department is appealing that ruling.

Chris Bollinger, president of Bollinger Shipyards, thanked Landrieu for securing funding for the project.

"For over three decades, Bollinger Shipyards has a legacy of producing exceptional Coast Guard Cutters on budget and on schedule," Bollinger said. "To be selected in the final competition for this program is both exciting and rewarding. We look forward to delivering another world-class design to the United States Coast Guard."

Landrieu, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, said the new cutters are badly needed.

The current fleet of endurance cutters, which are becoming expensive to maintain and ill-equipped to handle the technological aspects necessary to carry out missions, average in age from 30 years for the 270-foot fleet to 46 years for the 210-foot fleet, according to Landrieu's office.

The new fleet of cutters will offer increased range and endurance, a large flight deck, improved communication systems, and the capacity to launch small boat operations.

Bruce
Alpert is a Washington-based reporter for NOLA.com/Times-Picayune. He can be
reached at balpert@nola.com